Photographing with Spotlight Glare

Location:  The DeYoung Museum, San Francisco

Photographing with spotlight glare when the lights cover the ceiling has to be one of the most difficult challenges. My husband and I were visiting the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco. I can always find a good photograph, no matter what the circumstances. However, our visit to the  African Art Gallery, next to the New Guinea Gallery, presented one of the worst lighting glare challenges I had ever experienced.

Challenge:  Photographing with Spotlight Glare

I saw the wonderful full-length human sculptures made from wood and wanted to get a shot. All of the gallery lighting was ceiling spotlights.  There were lots of lights and also lots of glare. The sculptures I wanted were in the middle of the gallery, surrounded by these ceiling lights. From every angle, the ceiling lights interfered with the sculpture.

Accidental Photographer Tip:

I walked around the case, looking for the least-interfering angle. I finally decided it was impossible to avoid the lights and glare completely. As I walked, I looked for the angle that had the least amount of light hitting the sculpture itself and put as much of the lighting as possible in the background.

I had already turned off my flash and set the camera for a mid-range light sensitivity reading. This is known as the ISO reading. I used 400—a mid-range setting—because the light in the gallery was good.

The results weren’t great, but they were acceptable. I could still see the figure in some detail, and the lights were mostly in the background.

I could, of course, stamp out the lights in a photo editing program, but lots of photoshop work isn’t what I want to do. I would rather get the best shot I can out of my camera. It’s a challenge sometimes, but a little thought and observation does make it possible.

For simple tips to improve your photography on the go or on your travels with any camera or smart phone, check out my book, The Accidental Photographer for the Camera Bag.

For those of you interested in getting a more  technical foundation, I recommend taking the courses at New York Institute of Photography.  These are online correspondence courses with assignments reviewed by professional photographers.